O'Neill, Sherr vie for chairmanship

Paul Schott

Updated 10:42 pm, Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Board of Education Vice Chairman Barbara O'Neill and her Republican colleague Peter Sherr have declared themselves candidates for the board's chairmanship, setting up an intraparty match-up ahead of an officers election this week.

The board on Thursday will elect a chairman, vice chairman and secretary for the next year. Democrat Leslie Moriarty, the board's chairman for the last two years, is stepping down because her term has expired. O'Neill and Secretary Adriana Ospina still have another two years left on their terms.

"I definitely plan on running for chairman, and I have reached out to everyone for their support," O'Neill said in an email Tuesday. "I have been strongly encouraged through unsolicited emails, phone calls and personal conversations to seek the chair."

Sherr has expressed enthusiasm about his chairmanship bid.

"I think I have a lot to offer because I'm the most experienced, and I think the public has recognized that," he told Greenwich Time on Monday night. "My success in other endeavors has been a function of my ability to lead and work with others. The board needs strong leadership now. "

Sherr said he has informed his Republican board colleagues -- O'Neill, Peter Bernstein and Peter von Braun -- that he will seek their support for the chairmanship and also "made other people in the party aware."

O'Neill and Sherr are not unfamiliar with drama over the fate of the chairmanship. In December 2011, Sherr crossed party lines to cast a decisive vote for Moriarty to take over the chairmanship from Republican Steven Anderson, who had served as chairman since 2009.

In an interview last month with Greenwich Time, Sherr attributed his vote for Moriarty to his position that the board was "not working effectively" under Anderson's leadership.

Moriarty has been the board's sole chairman since December 2011.

The chairmanship vote will gauge whether a split among Republican Town Committee about Sherr's board performance extends to GOP board members. Sherr missed out on an RTC endorsement this year, after its members decided to instead back the candidacies of Bernstein and Brian Peldunas. Sherr has attributed that lack of support to his vote for Moriarty, although others such as Anderson counter that the endorsement vote reflected dissatisfaction with Sherr's first-term record.

Other RTC members, such as former Chairman Edward Dadakis, have been strongly critical of Sherr, faulting him for fomenting what they describe as dysfunction among board members.

But other Republicans such as von Braun and former RTC Chairman John Raben have emphatically defended Sherr, arguing that he is an independent-minded and effective board member.

Sherr was the top vote-getter among the six Board of Education candidates in the Nov. 5 election, collecting approximately 6,600 votes for a second term.

He is now the board's longest-serving member, having served since 2009. His board experience also includes chairmanship of the board's Labor Contracts Negotiation Committee.

"I really respect my colleagues on the board, and I think they'll make independent decisions," Sherr added. "Leading the board is very different than being a member of the board. One of the most important traits that a leader has to have is their ability to work with everybody, find common ground and find consensus and move the board forward."

Compared to his Republican colleagues' vote hauls, Sherr's 2013 vote total ranks third. In the 2011 election, O'Neill collected about 8,900 votes, while von Braun took about 7,900, the top totals among school board candidates that year. They faced two other Republican candidates, then-incumbent Marianna Ponns Cohen and Anna Povinelli. Bernstein, the other Republican school board member elected this year, received about 6,500 votes.

"People have reminded (me) that not only am I the biggest vote getter, 8,898 votes in the last two BOE elections, but they emphasize I have the skills, experience and time to do the job," O'Neill added.

O'Neill formerly worked professionally as the school district's Advanced Learning Program coordinator. Sherr is senior vice president for product management and marketing at CA Technologies, an enterprise management and security software company.

Thursday's Board of Education meeting starts at 7 p.m. at Old Greenwich School at 285 Sound Beach Ave.